Working on teaching an essay unit to your students and needing an outline for an argumentative essay to help them? Let’s be real, teaching writing is hard and knowing how to outline an argumentative essay (let alone explaining it to others) can be a difficult task. Here is what you need to know about how to write an outline for an argumentative essay.
How Many Paragraphs Should An Argumentative Essay Have
In reality, there can be anywhere from 3-6 paragraphs in this type of essay.
This is because it depends on how many supportive paragraphs the student has. If there are many reasons for their thinking, they might have 3-4 strong ideas. Each idea would get a paragraph. Sometimes students really struggle to think of supporting ideas and can only come up with 2. The number of ideas can dictate how many paragraphs the essay has overall.
Another reason it could be a different amount of paragraphs is due to how big (or small) their argument is. If a student is writing about something that is more controversial, chances are there are many ideas for rebuttal. If this is the case, they might have a whole paragraph (or maybe two) on these points and why they aren’t good. This could change the number of paragraphs.
Overall, the standard number of paragraphs is six when wondering how many paragraphs for argumentative essay have. This gives enough space to provide information to the reader on the main points for the writer’s thinking along with room for a bit of rebuttal.
What Should An Outline For An Argumentative Essay Include
An outline for argumentative paragraph usually contains 4 different parts. These are:
- Introduction
- 3 supporting paragraphs
- Rebuttal
- Conclusion
When answering the question “how to do an outline for an argumentative essay,” it would include each of these parts. It is often easiest to have each part on a separate sheet of paper so students can take it one step at a time.
The introduction gets the reader hooked and lays out what they are going to read about. This part also includes a thesis statement.
Supporting paragraphs are just that, they support the main topic. This is a great time to really get the writer’s point across. If research is done on the topic, these paragraphs are where most of that research would go.
The rebuttal usually contains 1-2 strong ideas as to the other side’s thinking. It goes into why this thinking is flawed. The writer is trying to show why the other side’s thought pattern is wrong.
Finally, the conclusion paragraph comes. Here the writer wraps things up by restating their thesis and main ideas. It also ends with giving the reader a final thought to ponder.
Argumentative Essay Outline Example
Sometimes it is easier to see things to better understand so check out this photo of an outline for writing an argumentative essay. It is fully filled in too to help you better understand where parts go and how it all relates.
This example is an outline of an argumentative essay about cigarette smoking vs vaping. It starts off with an introduction telling the reader the main viewpoint of the writer and the big points they are going to cover. It then has those big points broken down into supportive paragraphs. The fifth paragraph is the rebuttal. This tells the reader why some people feel vaping isn’t as bad as smoking nicotine cigarettes. The last paragraph is the conclusion to restate the main points and wrap it up.
Template For An Argumentative Essay
Create an outline of an argumentative essay on your own for students. You can do this by making a template where students can put in different parts for each paragraph.
For example, in the introduction paragraph, put spaces for a spot to hook the reader, some areas for their main ideas (usually 3 of them that will be the focus for each supporting paragraph), and another spot for a thesis statement.
Continue on doing this for each different paragraph. It is usually easiest for students if they have a separate page of paper for each paragraph.
If you don’t have the time and need a done-for-you outline for argumentative essay template, check this one out. It’s a 25+ page resource with everything you need to make teaching argumentative essay format a breeze. There’s a 6-page essay template just as talked about above. You’ll also find a page full of essay topics. Plus there is even a full completed outline for persuasive essay pdf that is turned into an actual essay in the correct format to use as an example. Easily create an outline for an argumentative research essay using this template by having students cite their sources on the last page in the space provided. The included completed outline shows this done for a great example. Grab this time-saving resource here.
Looking for More on Teaching Writing?
If you are teaching different types of writing, check out this post on essays. You’ll find a great guide on how to format essays as well as a 5 paragraph essay outline. This is a multi-purpose template that could be used for so many different kinds of writing. Writing about a small moment in their lives, using it as a research paper organizer, or an outline for persuasive essay example.
Interested in topics for an argumentative essay? Check out this free list by The Darling ELA Teacher of 50+ topics here. Your students are sure to find some great ideas to write about!
Or if you are looking for even more great tips on teaching this difficult subject, head over to this post by Lit With Lyns. There are some helpful ideas of things to keep in mind while instructing students.
Happy Teaching!
